ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the literature reviewed with evidence from research conducted from children in Zambia and Kenya. Data were collected from children in institutional care as well as child-headed households. The chapter shows the children's perception of their situation and experiences; hence, the data is mainly descriptive. Experiences of children in child-headed households vary. Most of the children in the study sample have heard of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and their perception of it is that AIDS is a drastic virus. With respect to their perception about their parents—whether dead or alive, and cause of death, some of the children indicated that they had lost their parents through HIV/AIDS when they were very young. A significant number of children indicated that they had heard of human rights. Children feel that adults have the rights to do what they like but children should have rights as well "because we are all human beings.
